Back to Fontenay

Quite some time ago I attempted to run a solo campaign from a Chain of Command booklet entitled Operation Martlet, it really didn't work and I made it too complicated by trying to mesh both Bolt Action and CoC. With my WWII forces looking good I decided to revisit this campaign and have roped in both Simon and my son Stewart. This time I have simply used the CoC book for the bones of the campaign but am fighting the games with Bolt Action, I am also not going into depth with how the sergeant feels about his officer or whether he has come up from the ranks or is a Hooray Henry. No doubt all interesting if you have the time but I will make it up as I go along. We are using a couple of house rules at the club and maybe a few more at Casa Anderson when we start at the beginning of July, both games I hope will be a learning curve for more of the same later. In this game I am German and in the one to come I am British.

We kicked off last night as the 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers probed the outskirts of the village of Fontenoy, waiting up ahead were troops of the 12th SS 'Hitlerjugend' under Oberscharfuhrer Braun, supported by a Panzer IV, a light howitzer and a halftrack. A nearby barn had been turned into a bunker recently by pioneers, I set up my three squads to cover my front with the tank on the right and the howitzer and halftrack on the left. I hoped the right flank would manage fine with the tank nearby while the bunker would protect my centre.

The British decided to go for my right flank and all but one squad and a sniper advanced on that side, I was not unduly worried as I brought up my tank to engage the British Sherman which was being a bit aggressive. I wanted my howitzer to start to throw shells at the Tommies but, yes, it began to fail its order tests and stayed put in a nearby orchard, what is it with that damn gun! I did start opening up with my light machine guns only to find they could not hit a barn door (maybe some of those wooden bullets that were around in Normandy). I moved up the Panzer and poked the gun around the corner of a house only to have two shots hit but bounce off the Sherman, the Sherman shot back and also missed. I needed to get some firepower to the front but the howitzer crew dithered and dallied, it was taking them an age to get through the orchard.

A sneaky little PIAT team was hopping along the side of the road in the trees and nothing I threw at it stuck, they took a shot and up went the Panzer along with my hopes of turning the tide. The squad in the nearby house were now trapped and on their own as I decided it was time to leave. As I began to retreat the British smelt blood and assaulted the surviving members of the house squad, now the Hitler Youth decided to put up a fight, the Jocks were decimated and sent packing. This was however only a brief respite and overwhelming fire put paid to the resolute defenders. So, a complete failure by Braun's men as they skedaddled back into Fontenay.

What went wrong, well not being able to put some hurt on the British as they advanced was my biggest problem along with the tank failing to brew the Sherman and in turn getting brewed itself. The useless howitzer once again proved to be useless and as things turned out it did not get a shot off, not once has that gun achieved anything on a battlefield, gah! I lost twice as many men as the Jocks and this will no doubt have an effect on how I fight the next game.

On the rules, we have dropped Tiger Fear unless it is a real Tiger, put Down back to -1 rather than -2 to hit and made it harder for a sniper to take out an entire team and weapon with one shot. Here at home I am going to try -1 for any sniper taking a second shot at the same target, surely they would hit the dirt, and don't tell me these supermen can disregard all cover end of, I hate how these are portrayed in BA.